This is how Xbox One will help you avoid the trolls

Microsoft has offered more details on its troll-avoiding Reputation system that will be used on Xbox One.

Feedback on players has been streamlined to be more direct and ultimately group players into one of just three categories – Green (Good Player), Yellow (Needs Improvement) or Red (Avoid Me).

This categorisation will be added to a player’s gamer card. The default setting will of course be Green and only players that have attracted negative feedback will see any deviation from that.

Players will receive “many different alerts” if they are at risk from slipping from Yellow to Red.

Furthermore, those with a rubbish Reputation will find that their feedback on other gamers is of decreased importance.

“The new model will take all of the feedback from a player’s online flow, put it in the system with a crazy algorithm we created and validated with an MSR PhD to make sure things are fair for everyone,” Xbox Live program manager Michael Dunn explained.

“The algorithm is sophisticated and won’t penalize you for a few bad reports. Even good players might receive a few player feedback reports each month and that is OK. The algorithm weighs the data collected so if a dozen people suddenly reporting a single user, the system will look at a variety of factors before docking their reputation.

“We’ll verify if those people actually played in an online game with the person reported – if not, all of those player’s feedback won’t matter as much as a single person who spent 15 minutes playing with the reported person. The system also looks at the reputation of the person reporting and the alleged offender, frequency of reports from a single user and a number of other factors.

“This system will continue to evolve and get better as we track the feedback we get from players and titles, plus add more consequences for the jerks. It also helps us match you with other gamers like you. Of course, the system will be as good as you make it, so all you need to do is report the players that are abusive, cheating or causing mayhem and their reputation will reflect that.”

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